Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-06-01
OMENs OF GOOD AND EVIL.
Popular Superstitions That Have
Outlived Many Generations.

The superstltlons handed down from
Mother Eve are observed by many of
her daughters. IL you are to be mar
ried In church you must leave the
house hand in haud. and, be the steps
ever so narrow, you must descend to-
gether. If you let go Of each other it
will bring separation either in life or
death. He who looks around on the
way to wedding is looking for an
other, and if the wedding ring is lost 1t
forbodes that the couple will not live
long together. That the particular day
of the week ON which birth takes place
determines the character and fortune
of the child is an assumption hOary
with age. Children born on Sunday
are said to have the power of second
sight or clairvoyancy. If a new born
babe has a particularly old look you can
conclude that it will not live to grow
up. If you have its picture taken be-
fore it is a year old it will meet with
the same sad fate. The same is said of
children who are allowed to play with
flowers or who are taken inside ceme-
tery at this early period of life. If You
would sleep soundly and peacefully the
head of the bed must face the east, but
on no account must the foot be OppO-
site the door, for the person in it Will
certainly be carried from the house a
corpse. If you wish to sleep without
dreaming you must put one shoe OF
boot under the bed and let the other
lie in the room where it can be seen. II
you wish to awake at certain hour
strike your big toe against the foot
board five or six times, whatever the
number of the hour may be, and youI
wish will be ful6lled-you will awake
at the precise moment. For lazy pupils
it is recommended to put the book con.
tanning the lesson to be learned under
the pillow at night and they will be
sure to know it in the morning. In
the Highlands of Scotlond it Is said
that, If servant while making the bed
happens to sneeze, the sleep OF the per-
son who is to lie in it will be disturbed
unless little of the straw Tor other
substance) with which 1t is
stuffed Is taken out and thrown into
the fire. If strangers of opposite sexes
r,semble each other you can wager a
thousand to one that they will be mar
ried If they meet, provided they care
fully avoid using the words ''if' OF
but" or give them a proper turn
when used. You must never give
shoe or stockings to any one whom you
wish to retain near you; If you do he
will be certain to run away. If lover
presents knife or any sharp lnstru'
ment to his betrothed their love viii
be cut asunder unless lie takes a pin ol
something similar in exchange. Oul
meals are seasoned with the same non
sense. IL one upsets the salt he vii
shed many tears; so If he lays knife anu
fork across each other, If you are sin
gle and are the first TO cut into the
butter you must wait seven years tC
be married. II you sit at the SHARP
corner of the table you Will have q
humped.back wife. At the change OF
the year dishes made of grainy sub.
stances are preferred; it is a sign OF
money. So the first meal of a newly
married couple should consist of granu'
| lous food. 1t is considered a great
wrong to give away the end of a loaf
of bread, as it is to lay a loaf which has
been cut with the cut side upon the
table. If a young man wishes to sue
ceed IN business he will not make his
beginning Monday, though in Ireland,
1t must be added, this is considered an
ausplclous day, while IN the North Of
| Scotland the mere mention of Monday
| the first time in company may bring bad
luck. Friday, OF course, IS a day or Ill
omen, on which no new work must be
commenced. Even among the Brah-
mIns this feeling prevailed, and 1t has
probably come down to us a part OF
our Aryan inheritance. If your left
hand itches, you will take in money; if
your right, you Will pay 1t out. A
ringing in the right ear means that
some one is speaking well of you; In
the left, you may be sure that evil
tongues are busy with you. III your
right eye itehes you Will see some
beautiful sight; If the left you Will have
cause to shed tears. III your nose ltches
you will hear some news, or-will tall
into the mire. II In dressing you put
on your stockings wrong side out 1t Is
sign of good luck; but you must leave
it So or the luck Will change before
night. On the other hand. if stock
irg is put on the wrong side out on the
wedding day it portends a disastrous
union. If you put a stitch into any
article Of clothing that is on your body
You will SOW your luck fast, and II
there are any strings to lie tied or
loosened while dressing you must be
careful not to get them into a knot.
Furthermore, a child under u months
must not be allowed to see its image in
the looking glass for fear of its becom-
ing vain later in life. If you look over
child's head it will not grow any
more. II little children kiss each other
before they can speak they will never
learn anything. If a little daughter
resembles her mother she Will never
have a particle OF good luck in ali her
life. If girl baby is given its mothers
name it will not live. The same Is
SAID of a son who is named after his
father. If, in spite of all the threaten
ing perils of infancy and youth, In
spite of all bad Omens and evil spirits,
the child has grown to maturity, al
whole world OF danger will open before
him, and he must learn to read many
tisns and portents If he wishes to keep
size good luck that has thus far at
tended him. If, Oh going out OF the
house, you forget something. you must
under no circumstances turn back ifyouI
can possibly avoid 1t; If you do you
must at any rate sit down before going
out again. II the FIRST person you meet
"a nm old unrmap II ia q sion 0f coming
misfortune, while on the contrary, 81
funeral procession denotes good for
tune.
What Napoleon III. Might Have Done